Why aren't I seeing improvements?

For those of you that have managed to get your meditation practice in full swing for the new year - (congratulations, by the way!) - but are beginning to question the amount of progress made since starting out, Andy has some advice...

Video Transcript:

In terms of seeing improvements in your practice, the first thing I’d ask is, ‘who’s doing the judging?’ To measure improvement, we need to judge it in some way, which is the opposite to what we’re trying to do or achieve in meditation.

In fact, we’re trying to become less judgemental rather than more... Even if you think of it from a more logical point of view, if you judge your meditation today, the person who judges the meditation in 3 weeks or 3 months is a different person.

For this reason, it’s very hard to compare one from the other and I would try to steer clear of judging your meditation in this way.

It might be helpful to think back to the idea of ‘expectation’ which we explored in the first set of animations. Ask yourself, ‘what is that you’re looking to get out of the meditation?’ Are you sat there waiting for something to happen? Perhaps you’re looking for some particular type of experience, or lightning bolt from the sky?

If you are, then you’re probably going to end up getting quite frustrated as you sit there each day waiting for it to happen.

However, if you need to think about improvement or progress in some way, then I’d encourage you to think about it in terms of stability of awareness.

That means awareness moment to moment - not just in the meditation - but throughout your everyday life. If you are now present more often throughout the day, then that’s improvement right there).

Further help...

Looking for further meditation advice? We have a range of videos on YouTube that give a wide selection of guidance and tips for those engaging in a meditation programme.